Six microbiology department postdoctoral scholars received awards on February 17, 2014, at the annual Postdoctoral Research Day. “I don’t believe that we have had this many winners from one department previously,” says Sharon Johnston, program manager in the UAB Office of Postdoctoral Education.

Postdoctoral Research Day, hosted by the UAB Postdoctoral Association (PDA) and the Office of Postdoctoral Education (OPE), allows trainees an opportunity to practice their presentation skills, compete for monetary awards, and network with faculty and other postdocs. Trainees present their work in a situation similar to a conference, and receive constructive feedback to help them improve their presentation technique.

The 2014 microbiology winners are:

Davide Botta (Lund lab), 2nd Place, Session One

Valeria Lulla (Frolov lab), 3rd Place, Session Five

Colin Reily (Novak lab), 1st Place, Session Five

Alexander Speer (Niederweis lab), 2nd Place, Session Two

Jim Sun (Niederweis lab), 1st Place, Session Two

Venkata Yeramilli (Kearney lab), 2nd Place, Session Five

These outstanding trainees were among 53 entrants from UAB and SRI (Southern Research Institute). Each submitted a 300-word abstract and presented a 12-minute talk about their research project. Research Day was divided into six sessions with 1st, 2nd and 3rd place awards for each session. Presentations were judged by UAB faculty and SRI scientists.